Luis Miguel Afonso Fernandes (born 6 October 1989), known as Pizzi (), is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club S.C. Braga. After a successful loan at

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

, he spent three years in Spain with as many teams, totalling 74 games and 12 goals in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. A versatile and goal-scoring midfielder, mainly operating in the central or right-wing midfield roles, he then spent a total of eight seasons for Benfica, making 360 appearances, scoring 93 goals and winning ten domestic honours including four

titles, three of which consecutively. Pizzi made his senior international debut for Portugal in 2012 and was part of their squad at the

2017 Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 201 ...

and

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

, winning the latter tournament.

Club career

Early years

Born in Bragança, Pizzi earned his nickname from playing as a child in a replica

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

jersey when

Juan Antonio Pizzi Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (, ; born 7 June 1968) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker, currently manager of UAE Pro League club Al-Wasl. He spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, helping to th ...

was the Spanish club's striker. He began his career with hometown club G.D. Braganca in the third tier in 2007. A year later, he joined

club S.C. Braga, spending most of his time out on loan and making his first professional appearances with

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

of the Segunda Liga in 2009. On 10 January 2010, he joined top-flight club

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal stadi ...

. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Pizzi scored seven league goals for Paços, only missing three league matches. On 8 May 2011 he netted a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 3–3 draw at Porto, which turned out to be the only home league game that the eventual champions failed to win during the season. He scored twice on 3 March in a 4–3 win at

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

to qualify the team for the

2011 Taça da Liga Final Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

Spain

On 30 August 2011 Pizzi moved to Spanish team

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, on loan until the end of the year, after which the ''Colchoneros'' had an option to buy the player permanently for €13.5 million, which they did in October of the following year. He made his

debut on 18 September 2011, replacing also newly signed

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...

midway through the second half of a 4–0 home win against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

. He scored his only Atlético goal to open a 3–2 win over

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

also at the

Vicente Calderón Stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela distric ...

on 20 November, totalling 15 appearances of which three were in the victorious

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

campaign. Along with several compatriots, initially still under contract with Braga, Pizzi moved to Deportivo de La Coruña for the 2012–13 campaign. In only his second appearance, through a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

, he helped the Galicians come back from 1–3 at Valencia CF for a final 3–3 draw, scoring his team's last goal; he added a brace against

on 20 October 2012 – one of the goals coming through a free kick – but his team lost 4–5 at the

Riazor Stadium Estadio Municipal de Riazor (), also known as Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Spain. The stadium is the home of Deportivo de La Coruña, and accommodates a total of 32,660 spectators, making ...

. On 26 July 2013 Pizzi signed a six-year contract with S.L. Benfica, for a fee of €6 million for half of his economic rights, being immediately loaned to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

also in Spain's top flight.

Benfica

In the 2014–15 season, Pizzi joined Portuguese champions Benfica and was converted from winger to

, like his predecessor

Enzo Pérez Enzo Nicolás Pérez (; born 22 February 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for River Plate and the Argentina national team. He played four years for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, where he won five trop ...

. On 5 October 2014, Pizzi debuted in a 4–0 win against Arouca in Primeira Liga. On 14 January 2015, Pizzi scored his first goal for Benfica, from a penalty kick, in another 4–0 home win against Arouca, this time in the third round of league cup. On 28 February, Pizzi scored his first goal for Benfica in the league, in the thrashing of Estoril (6–0). DimK-BenfikaL_1

Pizzi scored 12 times in 48 games over the 2016–17 season as Benfica won a domestic double. He was voted Player of the Month consecutively from October/November to December, and eventually Player of the Season at the

LPFP Awards The LPFP Awards are a number of awards given annually during the Portuguese League for Professional Football (LPFP) gala, and the winners are chosen by a vote amongst the LPFP pairs. Between 2006 and 2010 the winners were chosen only by a vote among ...

. On 1 December 2017, during the Porto vs Benfica match, Pizzi was attacked in the back by a supporter of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

who invaded the pitch; Porto faced a maximum of two behind closed doors matches but was only fined €2,860. On 10 August 2018, Pizzi scored a first-half hat-trick in a 3–2 home win over Vitória de Guimarães in the opening (league) match of the 2018–19 season, and was again voted Player of the Month for August 2018. He scored 15 goals and made 23 assists in 55 matches overall that season as Benfica regained the league title, and at its conclusion he signed a new contract until 2023. Pizzi scored twice in the

2019 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The 2019 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira was the 41st edition of the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. It was played between the champions of the 2018–19 Primeira Liga, S.L. Benfica, Benfica, and the winners of the 2018–19 Taça de Portugal, D ...

on 4 August, a 5–0 win over city rivals Sporting CP at the Estádio Algarve. By scoring twice on 14 December in a 4–0 win over

F.C. Famalicão Futebol Clube de Famalicão, commonly known as Famalicão, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Vila Nova de Famalicão. Founded on 21 August 1931, its senior team currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portugu ...

he had recorded 16 goals for the season, 11 of which in the league, making it already his highest-scoring season. He ended the season with 18, joint-best alongside teammate Carlos Vinícius and Rio Ave's

Mehdi Taremi Mehdi Taremi ( fa, مهدی طارمی; born 18 July 1992) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Primeira Liga club Porto and the Iran national team. A late bloomer, he begun his career at Shahin Bushehr and Iranjav ...

. On 16 December 2020, Pizzi made his 300th Benfica appearance in a penalty shootout win over Vitória de Guimarães in the league cup quarter-finals; he scored a late spot-kick to draw the game 1–1. The following 23 November, he reached 350 games when he came on as a substitute in a goalless draw at

in the Champions League group stage; he was used more often from the bench in the 2021–22 season. On 8 February 2022, Pizzi was loaned to

İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. İstanbul Başakşehir Futbol Kulübü () is a Turkish professional football club based in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul. The club is better known simply as İstanbul Başakşehir or, due to sponsorship, Medipol Başakşehir (). The club ...

until the end of the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. He scored his only goal on his debut four days later, opening a 2–0 home win over

Gaziantep FK Gaziantep Futbol Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Gaziantep. Founded in 1988, the club currently plays in the Süper Lig, the highest tier of Turkish football. The club was founded as Sankospor in 1988 and competed at th ...

Al Wahda

In the summer of 2022, Pizzi was not in the plans of new Benfica manager Roger Schmidt and was courted by several Middle Eastern clubs; he signed for Al Wahda FC of the UAE Pro League under compatriot manager

Carlos Carvalhal Carlos Augusto Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal (; born 4 December 1965) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a centre-back, currently manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo. As a player, he totalled 197 Primeira Liga appearances in ...

as they offered him a two-year contract worth a net amount of €2 million per year.

Braga

On 30 January 2023, Pizzi returned to Portugal's top flight, having rescinded his contract with Al Wahda to join Braga.

International career

Pizzi made his debut for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 14 November 2012 in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, scoring through a penalty in an eventual 2–2 draw in

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

. He was selected for the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 20 ...

in Russia, playing two matches as the Portuguese finished third.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pizzi goal.''

Honours

Paços de Ferreira *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

runner-up:

Atlético de Madrid *

: 2011–12 Benfica *

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 * Taça de Portugal: 2016–17; runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Portugal *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

: 2018–19 *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

third place:

Individual *

Player of the Month: October/November 2016, December 2016, August 2018, August 2019 * SJPF Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2016, 2017 * Primeira Liga Player of the Year: 2016–17 *UEFA Primeira Liga Best Player: 2018–19 * Primeira Liga Top scorer: 2019–20 *

top scorer:

(joint – 7 goals)

References

External links

*
National team data
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzi 1989 births Living people People from Bragança, Portugal Sportspeople from Bragança District Portuguese footballers Association football midfielders GD Bragança players S.C. Braga players G.D. Ribeirão players S.C. Covilhã players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Atlético Madrid footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players S.L. Benfica footballers RCD Espanyol footballers İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Al Wahda FC players Segunda Divisão players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players La Liga players Süper Lig players UAE Pro League players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players Portuguese expatriate footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates